THE SMELLS OF THE STABLE - All Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals for 2026

Our Daily Bread - Saturday, December 25, 2016
by RBC Ministries

Details

THE SMELLS OF THE STABLE

READ:

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
-Matthew 1:23

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Zephaniah 1-3
Revelation 16

A stable? What a place to give birth to the Messiah! The smells and sounds of a barnyard were our Saviour's first human experience. Like other babies, He may even have cried at the sounds of the animals and the strangers parading around His temporary crib.
If so, they would have been the first of many tears. Jesus would come to know human loss and sorrow, the doubts His brothers and family had about Him, and the pain His mother experienced as she saw Him tortured and killed.
All these hardships - and so much more - awaited the baby trying to sleep that first night. Yet from His very first moments, Jesus was "God with us" (Matthew 1:23), and He knew what it meant to be human. This would continue for over three decades, ending at His death on the cross.
Because of His love for you and me, Jesus became fully human. And being human allows Him to identify with us. Never again can we say that no one understands us. Jesus does.
May the Light that entered the world that night cast its brilliance into the deepest corners of our souls this Christmas, giving us the peace on earth of which the angels spoke so long ago. - Randy Kilgore
Father, help our hearts to know the love of Christ and to honour Him with our unyielding devotion in this and every season. We love You.

Jesus understands.

More From Our Daily Devotional Archives

Open Heavens
for Wednesday, December 25, 2013
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

YOU CAN BE HIS WITNESS

As a bona fide member of the Kingdom of God, you must be a proof of His power to save. Matthew 1:21 says Jesus shall save His people from sin.

Bible in one year:
Genesis 3-5

Action...More

Open Heavens
for Friday, February 28, 2014
by Pastor E.A Adeboye

BEFORE YOU GET ANGRY

Yesterday we learnt it is not right for us to get angry with God or to take offence against Him, even if we experience the deferment of our hopes. The example of John the Baptist who earlier acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, but later doubted Him because of his painful experience of incarceration is a warning...More

Our Daily Bread
for Friday, March 30, 2018
by RBC Ministries

The Via Dolorosa

Read: Hebrews 10:1-10 | Bible in a Year: Judges 9-10; Luke 5:17-39

Christ's sacrifice was what God desired and what our sin required.

By Amy...More

Daily Devotion
for Tuesday, January 25, 2023
by Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Don't Lose Sight

...when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem...
Luke 2:45

We might as well face it, strife has even infiltrated our church life. It is true enough that the Church is now the Church militant. But, as such, its warfare ought to be that of dedication to revealed truth and divine...More